Just back from a two-week trip to 19 locations in Sudan's Darfur
region, actor and UN messenger of peace George Clooney-despite his
well-publicized recent run-in with male fashion model Fabio-arrived
Thursday at the United Nations joking and shaking hands as he
walked past hundreds of employees.
Clooney toured UN headquarters for a ceremony and a new pin on
his lapel marking his designation for the special job by Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon.
As the ninth UN peace envoy, the Oscar winner (best supporting
actor for Syriana was selected for his ability to focus
public attention on critical international political and social
issues. He told reporters it was a tremendous honor for him.
New UN Messenger of Peace,
George Clooney, speaks at news conference at United Nations
headquarters in New York City. Clooney on Thursday appealed to
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir to allow the full UN-African
Union peacekeeping force into strife-torn Darfur.(photo:
Xinhua/AFP)
"I am very proud to be here as a messenger of peace, and the
message is: That the world is watching, and that at this point we
cannot afford to fail," he said. "There's a lot more responsibility
with this one than with an Oscar, which all you really have to do
is, you know, drink after the party."
Clooney took on the job of promoting the world body's
peacekeeping missions after waging his own campaigns for an end to
the 4 1/2-year war in Darfur and for more humanitarian aid for the
millions caught up in the conflict.
He is a co-founder of Not on Our Watch, a humanitarian group
that focuses global attention on Darfur's people and has raised
more than US$9.3 million for the region.
Other messengers of peace are Michael Douglas, Elie Wiesel, Jane
Goodall, Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, Paulo Coelho, Midori Goto and
Princess Haya of Jordan.
Clooney said he plans to focus his attention on Darfur and other
spots he knows best, but has ambitions to travel broadly in his UN
role.
(Agencies via Xinhua February 2, 2008)
